The material consists primarily of letters to and from members of the Badgett family in Caswell County, North Carolina, and in Jefferson, Texas. The letters pertain to human trafficking of enslaved persons, farming, impressions and observations of Thomas J. Badgett while he was a student at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and at the University of Pennsylvania (events include the execution of John Brown), the Civil War, and conditions and events in Texas following the Civil War. Other papers include a Confederate States of America bond, deeds, and business correspondence. Uncorrected, handwritten transcripts of all but the bond are also included.

Enslaved persons mentioned in this collection are George, who was 15 in 1843, Lydia, who was 11 in 1843, Hariot, who was 7 in 1843, Mariah with children, Mary Ann with children, Martin, William Ervan, Mary, Abby, Margaret, July, Emily, Ellen, age 16 in 1856, Sillus, age 17 in 1856, and Allen, aged 7 in 1856.